Crib Notes

With another Madvillainy CD in the works and MF Doom’s collaboration with Ghostface in the final stages (according to Nature Sounds owner Devin Horwitz), Doom fans might feel less than fulfilled by his new collection Unexpected Guests. It contains rarities, vinyl-only singles and remixes but not a single new song, after all, and some of these tracks — such as “Da Supafriendz” with Vast Aire — have probably been heard on a half-dozen other albums. Still, like pizza, sex and Coen brothers’ movies, even when a Doom album is bad, it’s good. Thus, the largely rehashed Unexpected Guests is still a winner. “Fly That Not” with Talib Kweli, for example, is as hot as the first 50 times you heard it. Throughout, Doom’s gags, double entendres and stream of consciousness rhymes satisfy without ever being, uh, unexpected. (Gold Dust) 3 stars out of 5

(Photo Courtesy GOLD DUST)

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“Seeing the Dark” and “Spirit Molecule,” the first two cuts from Zoroaster’s The Voice of Saturn, have materialized on the B-side of a split 7-inch with Portland, Oregon’s Aldebaran (Kreation Records).

Both acts are cut from a similar cloth of slow, doom-laden metal riffs, and the vinyl treatment really blows out the bottom end of the dirge. The bass-heavy mix draws out the rich and blackened qualities, and as a teaser to the forthcoming vinyl version of The Voice of Saturn, it definitely leaves you wanting more.

Aldebaran’s side is a growly voiced anthem called “Aldebaran Red,” which fits smoldering guitars and war drums over dueling high/low godlike grumbles. There’s less of a psychedelic bent to Aldebaran’s side of the record. Instead, these Portland tormentors summon a maelstrom of teeth-gnashing, scorched-earth vitriol. 900 copies pressed on black vinyl, 100 on clear/”black haze” vinyl.

Zoroaster’s “Spirit Molecule” mp3

Zoroaster plays the Masquerade Thurs., Sept. Sep 24 with Gojira and Burst and Scale the Summit.  $13. 8 p.m. 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178.

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Read about the making of the homemade video at dallaspenn.com.

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I’m a little late on this, but it looks like DOOM has finally, unequivocally, admitted that other people have performed for him at his shows.

HipHopDX: So just to get it out of the way, can you address the recent scandal where you were allegedly sending an impostor to perform in your mask at DOOM concerts?

DOOM: [Laughs] Alright. Here’s how I look at it, because the wording in there is kinda funny. “Impostor.” Impostor would imply that the character. I liken it to this: I’m a director as well as a writer. I choose different characters, I choose their direction and where I want to put them. So who I choose to put as the character is up to me. The character that I hired, he got paid for it. There’s no impostor.

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The first two quarters don’t normally mark the release of many exciting hip-hop and R&B releases, but this year’s schedule is chock-full of new albums from big-name and buzzed-about Atlanta artists.

Somehow, Keri Hilson’s In A Perfect World… saw release last Tuesday. I’ll admit that I never actually expected the thing to drop, as I speculated. It was joined that week by another album few thought would see the light of day any time soon, MF Doom’s Born Like This, about which I had mostly positive things to say. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Read this week's CL feature, "What the MF, DOOM?"]

Notable upcoming local releases include Bow Wow’s latest, New Jack City, Pt II, which drops next week. After the flop of his 2007 collaboration with Omarion, Face Off, he really needs a hit or he’ll probably fall off the map. His ex-GF Ciara, on the other hand, probably has a little bit more wiggle room; her much-delayed third album Fantasy Ride is now scheduled to come out May 5. Shawty Lo’s second solo CD Carlos is also slated for the same day; let me know if you come across anyone who’s excited for that.

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MF Doom — or simply DOOM, as he now wants to be known — is back after a long hiatus, particularly for someone so prolific. One thing we know for sure: His new album Born Like This is performed by him, not a masked impersonator. The album dropped yesterday, and I’m listening to it for the first time here. I’ve live-blogged my thoughts below, borrowing Byron Crawford’s format.

“Supervillain Intro” “Doom’s got a plan that’s gonna shake the heavens,” a WWE-voiced announcer tells us. Let’s hope so. He adds: “Time to get the feta!”

“Gazillion Ear” One of two J Dilla beats here. It’s pretty hot, with kind of an eerie/haunted carnival/David Lynch vibe.

“Ballskin” Now we’re talking! This Jake One beat is even hotter than “Trap Door,” from the Seattle producer’s 2008 album White Van Music, which Wikipedia tells me only sold 9,859 copies. That number makes me want to run myself over with a van (of any color). Wait, is this track already over?

“Yessir!” The Raekwon joint, and he definitely doesn’t phone it in. Doom’s beat is really repetitive and annoying, though. He may have phoned it in, whatever that could mean.

“Absolutely” The only Madlib beat here. I’m feeling it. In fact, this whole thing has a Madvillainy vibe so far. That can’t be a bad thing, right? I could do without the Cops sample at the end of the song, however. Is that honky policeman supposed to sound dramatic? Are they making fun of him? Why not just sample Reno 911, then?

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Could this be the beginnings of a buddy-cop flick?

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has put his own spin on a song from DOOM (formerly known as MF Doom), the Atlanta-based underground MC with the cult-following.

The original version of the song titled “Gazzillion Ear” is scheduled to appear on DOOM’s March 24 release, Born Like This. The remix will be included as a bonus track on the iTunes downloaded version of the album.

Listen to a snippet at Pitchfork.com. Stay tuned for CL’s upcoming feature on DOOM.

(Photo of DOOM courtesy Valery Lovely)

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